We had planned to go to Versailles on Thursday, but the train drivers in Paris had other plans.

After breakfast (croissant, french bread, jellies, cheese, coffee with milk) we went to the front desk to ask which train to catch.

"Oh, you cannot take the train today," the desk clerk said. "There is a strike and there is no metro, no RER, no buses."She did not know how long it would last and she had no idea if the trains would run again during our time in Paris. Needless to say it was a little discouraging.

So we decided to go to Plan B. We would walk. I would recommend walking as the best way to see Paris. Much of the city is less than 10 stories tall, and the trees in October had just begun to turn. The weather was clear and crisp (about 50 F) so a walk down the Boulevard Montparnasse was a pleasant prospect.

We decided to check out the Musée Rodin - one of Cornelia's clients and one of my co-workers had recommended it. We understood why when we got there. The Musée Rodin is made up of the former Hotel Biron and its gardens and is right across the street from Les Invalides - Napoleon's former hospital for wounded soldiers.

The house was built between 1728 and 1730. (You can learn more by clicking on the museum website at : http://www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm)The house itself was closed and only the gardens were opened because there were not enough people to work there - because of the rail strike.

We decided to peruse the gardens instead and we were not disappointed. (The photos with this post give you an idea how beautiful the gardens are. The photos are as they came out of the camera except for resizing - the grass was REALLY that green and the roses were THAT pink).

If you are in Paris and you are a fan of sculpture do not miss the Musée Rodin. His artisanship and craft will make you stand agape. He was a true master. Oh - and the house eventually opened and we were able to see the whole thing.

From the Musée Rodin we went to Les Invalides - trying to say "je cherch la musee" - I am looking for the museum - was tough because of a lack of practice, but the guards were very accommodating and showed us to the Church of the Dome. Built at the behest of Louis XIV - the Sun King - the church is now dedicated to the worship of Napoleon.

The Emperor himself is entombed in the center of the king's chapel in a huge sarcophagas made of porphory. Napoleon is inside five caskets and the crypt level is filled with his images, bas relief sculptures of him in Greco-Roman imagery, and the side chapels contain the tombs of his leading generals and General Foch from WWI. The art of the church is worth seeing; Napoleon is okay if you are interested in him. I prefer it as a church.

From Les Invalides we kept a promise to ourselves to climb the Eiffel Tower. This was the week of the Rugby World Cup final, so there was a giant rugby ball in the tower and a New Zealand Rugby pavillion - in the shape of a rugby ball - on the Champs de Mars. The second level of the Eiffel Tower is more than 600 feet off the ground. It costs a lot less than taking the elevator to the top, but it is work - especially late in the day. Coming down was a little harder than going up because we couldn't see the steps for part of the way.

But the views are stunning. We had hoped the trains would be running again, but they were not, so from the Eiffel Tower we walked back to Montparnasse. It looked a LOT different at night than in the day. But we made it to the hotel before 9:30.

We had hoped to stop by the Monoprix to get food before it closed - we were booking it back - but they closed early. Thanks be to God we met an American man married to a French woman. They were behind us in line at a Chinese restaurant at Rue da Guerre and helped us order the best Chinese food I have had in years. Is everything better in Paris? I was beginning to think so.